Tag: Rapidian

Nonprofit Shows Glimpse of Media Future

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An recent item in the citizen journalism outlet The Rapidian offers a glimpse of the local media future. The article notes the debut this month of a news bureau dedicated to environmental news. It shows the further growth of alternative niche media outlets that are a significant presence in the local media landscape.

This is interesting on several levels. For one, it shows that even as Mlive.com adapts and morphs from a collection of local newspapers on actual paper to a digital hub, it faces competition. The same is true for local television stations highlighting hyper-local areas on their web sites  and apps, such as WZZM TV13’s “My Town” effort. There was a time when the Grand Rapids Press and Muskegon Chronicle had reporters dedicated to the environment beat. Now they still cover  environmental issues–there is even an ‘environment’ category on the MLive.com mobile app–but they don’t cover  it as often.

The reason mainstream media don’t cover things like the environment with regularity is for economic reasons. Conventional media are market-driven. They are caught in a cycle of losing readers and viewers, which leads to lost ad revenue, which lead to less staff to cover everything. They are trying to recapture that by getting more local, but this puts them in a new competitive ballpark.

Citizen journalism projects are content-driven. They operate with grants, underwriters and donations. Support may come in the form of ads eventually. But for now they are not averse to content that yields smaller audience. In fact, that is their purpose, as evidenced by the series of news bureaus launching focused at the neighborhood or topical level. Readers can subscribe via RSS feed to the specific neighborhood or topic of interest to them in the community.

Another interesting aspect of all of this is the source of the news. The Rapidian seeks “journalists and aspiring journalists” for these bureaus. Some of them will be journalism students in internships. Others may be laid off journalists doing freelance work. But nonprofit organizations will also be providing news for these bureaus. As an example, the Creston Neighborhood Association  will be a primary source of neighborhood news for that bureau. The West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC) appears to be running the environment news bureau.

Some people might wonder about the credibility and quality of news being provided by young or even untrained journalists. But keep in mind several things. First,  MLive.com is downsizing and rehiring a leaner, younger staff too. Who is to say The Rapidian site won’t be equally credible? In fact, in the case of the environmental news bureau, WMEAC’s  Executive Director Rachel Hood has a background in public relations, and their Communications Director Dan Schoonmaker is a former journalist and public relations professional (see their staff directory bios).

Secondly, the news has always been largely supplied indirectly from businesses, nonprofits, government spokespeople and other sources. It’s been called “information subsidy.” The way The Rapidian is doing it is more transparent. That relates to the final point, that the public will have to be thoughtful and critical of all information they consume, even as they are now with local and national “mainstream” news. I would also hope that WMEAC will be magnanimous and offer news from other environmentally focused nonprofit organizations, and that they are fair and even-handed vs. activist if there is an environmental story with multiple points of view.

It’s also important to note that what The Rapidian is doing will supplement mainstream news such as MLive.com and other local print and broadcast outlets. The advantage of The Rapidian for PR professionals is a greater chance of getting news publicized than in the busy conventional media outlets. It’s also possible to reach a smaller niche audience of people most interested in your subject. However, smart PR pros will also keep in mind the need to reach people who are not currently interested or engaged, and the best way to reach them is through a greater mass distribution that conventional mainstream media will offer.

In short, there will be more outlets for public relations professionals to consider, and more news for the public to consume.

Jobs and New Media Good News for West Michigan

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I received an email yesterday from Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor for Rapid Growth Media, that lifted my spirits. The blast email was to announce expanded job news coverage in the online publication. The expansion launched today in the Innovation and Job News section.

“Our philosophy is this: there may not be many big companies hiring 100 employees, but there might be 100 small businesses creating one job each,” Wood explained in the email. “Those businesses are often overlooked as news stories, or the owners are so busy doing the day-to-day they don’t think to let us know about their growth.”
More than a publication, Rapid Growth has been a cheerleader for the region since its inception. It’s not just seeing the positive job news in this economy, and the articles about smaller businesses, that is so uplifting. It’s the fact  that a local news outlet is dedicated to constructive coverage. 

A complaint about the mainstream media  has long been the dwelling on scandal and negativity, the “if it bleeds it leads” mentality. Sure, citizens need to be informed  of crime and less  than uplifting news. But the constant barrage of aggregated unemployment numbers don’t tell the full story. People need and want to hear about the small scale turnarounds and successes, the entrepreneurs as well as the monoliths. 

That may be partly why Rapid Growth has grown to 30,000 unique visitors  per month, and an email distribution of 15,000, according to publisher Jeff Hill. I would expect that to be a growth story of its own in the months ahead with its good news and the opportunity to peruse 98 jobs available at the moment I write this. It’s also encouraging to read about jobs landed–especially when they feature a former student of mine:-)

I realize that the mainstream media has been working to make their coverage  more positive and local as well. But it seems that new media like Rapid Growth, citizen journalism project The Rapidian, and an impressive e-zine from local social media maven StellaFly are leading the way into online, hyper-local, smaller focus, positive news. In a bit of irony, StellaFly recently posted a long feature of Mike Lloyd, the formerly ink-stained and curmudgeonly Grand Rapids Press editor now doing PR for Broadway Grand Rapids.

All of this is good for the news consumers of West Michigan. It’s also good in terms of the added outlets for the public relations professionals with small but good stories to share.


Media Partnerships and PR

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At first glance you might think “The Business Times of Northwest Ottawa County” is a bold new journalistic venture. Not exactly.

The new publication is a partnership between the Chamber of Grand Haven, Spring Lake, and Ferrysburg and the Grand Haven Tribune. A Tribune article recently explained the new partnership.

There’s no doubt such a partnership has mutual benefits. The Chamber is using the design and production capabilities of a local daily newspaper to upgrade the look of its former newsletter, the “Beacon.” Distribution is also a positive from this partnership, with the chamber tucking its piece into the local paper and reaching 28,000 subscribers as opposed to maintaining their own list and mailing process.

Meanwhile, the Tribune gets content and revenue. There’s no doubt the Chamber is paying an insertion fee for the privilege of distributing their branded material in the Tribune. The publication also takes advertising. Also, in this era of struggling media, it’s a great way for the Tribune to deliver more business related news to its subscribers, provided by Chamber members and others not on the newspaper’s payroll.

This is just another example of such media partnerships in this era of shrinking media budgets and staff. The Grand Rapids Press added a health section a year ago to provide more locally focused health coverage from both reporters and staff of area health institutions. The Press also partnered recently with citizen journalism outlet the Rapidian in a series of “hunger challenge” articles.

But in all the win-win for papers and partners, what about the public and public relations practitioners?

Sure, this is a great PR opportunity for hospitals and chambers and other organizations who can use these partnerships to guarantee coverage of their issues and news. But lost in seizing these opportunities may be the realization that this is a transition from “earned” to paid media, or uncontrolled to controlled media. Earned or uncontrolled media means a PR practitioner had to convince a hard-working and appropriately skeptical journalist of the news value of their content. Paid or controlled media means an organization gets to place content verbatim in the space  it has purchased as advertising.

These partnerships may be a middle ground. The Press and Tribune both show some editorial involvement. But one has to wonder what the public thinks. The key advantage of earned media is not just that it is not paid for, but that it has third-party credibility. In other words, the public is less likely to believe and trust something they know has been paid for or controlled by whoever is presenting the information. They are more likely to believe  something if they sense it has been verified by an objective outside person, also known as a journalist.

What this means for those engaging in media partnerships is caution is in order. It will be a mistake to think that achieving reach and “getting the word out” is enough. It will be how such ventures are carried out, with transparency, honesty, and credibility that will not only reach people but inform and influence them.